Carroll linebacker gave his word to Purdue recently

The Carroll senior received a scholarship offer from Notre Dame on Friday afternoon, just over a week after committing to Purdue to play for coach Darrell Hazell.

“It was definitely an honor,” said Tranquill about the offer. “It is another opportunity for me and my family and we will look at it.”

The offer came from assistant coach Mike Elston, who recruits Indiana for the Fighting Irish. According to Tranquill, head coach Brian Kelly wanted to extend a scholarship offer to the 6-foot-2, 210-pound versatile prospect at Notre Dame's camp in June, but Tranquill had to leave early.

But on Friday, the offer finally came.

“It is a huge honor and I want to give them an honest look,” Tranquill said.

Notre Dame has told Tranquill that it is recruiting him as an inside linebacker, with a combination of speed and physically in the mold of Manti Te'o that is needed to defend the wealth of spread offenses in college football.

The Fighting Irish would likely want Tranquill to bulk up to 240-250 pounds for the position and are the only school that have recruited the senior for that particular spot.

Purdue has recruited Tranquill as a “defensive athlete,” most likely destined for the secondary.

Tranquill reached out to the Purdue coaching staff immediately following Friday's conversation with Elston, with the Boilermakers wanting to get Tranquill back on campus as soon as possible.

“They want to get me back down there and pitch everything again to me,” Tranquill said. “Purdue is a great university and it is the best fit for me right now.”

Notre Dame appears to be expanding its search for inside linebacker prospects for this recruiting cycle with the offer to Tranquill. So far, the Fighting Irish have verbal commitments from Jonathan Bonner out of Missouri and Greer Martini from Virginia. Both are rated as three-star prospects by Rivals.com, with only the 6-3, 230-pound Martini penciled in as an inside linebacker at the college level.

So far, Notre Dame has 15 verbal commitments for the Class of 2014 that ranks ninth in the country according to Rivals.

Tranquill is also a three-star prospect according to Rivals and the ninth-best player in the state of Indiana. He hopes to get to South Bend in the near future with his family.

“I want to interact with the coaches and players and maybe even see a game,” Tranquill said.

When asked what he would need to see at Notre Dame to change his mind about being a Boilermaker, Tranquill could not be specific.

“That is something I could not answer, we will have to see,” Tranquill said.

“Purdue feels like home, so it is going to have to be like that and even better to change my mind.”